First Dates And Other Beginnings
by ryttu3k
Summary: First dates! Shauna should be excited about her first date with Serena, but instead, she's mostly just terrified. Thankfully, Lysandre is around to help reassure her. (Lysandre-Shauna friendship, some Shauna/Serena and Lysandre/Sycamore.)


"Lysandre, help, it's a disaster!"

Leaning away fractionally from the holographic image of a frenzied eighteen-year-old girl wrapped in a bathrobe and gesticulating frantically, Lysandre blinked once at Shauna's expression and frowned. "You don't need to shout," he said with a heaving sigh, "What's the matter?"

Shauna let out another wail. "My date with Serena is in two hours and I don't know what to do with my hair and I don't know what to wear and I tried to put on make up and I looked like a clown - " Yes, that was mascara smudged in the corner of her eye, he could see - "And I've never been on an actual date and I don't know what to do and just...! Help, what do I _do_?"

Oh - that was tonight, wasn't it. Lysandre wasn't entirely sure how he had forgotten - neither Shauna nor Serena had spoken of much else other than that for the past week, although not, to his lasting amusement, when the other was around.

He let out another sigh, then peered back at Shauna's holographic appearance. "Would you like me to come over and help you? I can help you choose an outfit, and, well." He shrugged a little. "Perhaps I can give you some advice."

"Oh holy Arceus, _please_." She gave him a watery and endlessly grateful smile. "Seriously, I have no idea what I'm doing and I want it to be _perfect_ and -"

Holding up a hand to halt the stream of words, Lysandre nodded once and told her, "I'll be over in twenty minutes. Why don't you choose a few potential outfits? We can choose one together. And brush your teeth before I get there, you don't want to ruin you make up."

She grinned back as brightly as the sun. "I will! Thank you so much, you have no idea how grateful I am - I'll see you really soon!"

There was a click as her holographic image disappeared abruptly, and Lysandre switched his own Holo Caster back into standby mode with an amused smile on his face.

First date jitters - they happened to everyone.

Leaving a note for Augustine explaining where he would be going (he had been working late again, and Lysandre would not have been surprised if he still managed to make it home first), he pulled on his coat, found his shoes, and swept out of the apartment.

Time to get stylish.

* * *

Shauna's apartment, shared with a few of her university classmates, was not far from his and Augustine's, and he made it with plenty of time to spare. She was pulling open the door before he had even had the opportunity to knock, now dressed, much to his relief, in something other than a bathrobe (even if an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts weren't really appropriate date attire), the mascara smudge gone, her Delcatty peering up at him curiously.

"You're a lifesaver!" she proclaimed dramatically, stepping aside to let him in. "Everyone else has already gone out and I've never done this before and -!"

"So you said," he told her gravely, "Shall we choose an outfit?"

"Right!" Grabbing his wrist, she hauled him to her room, which had the approximate look of a clothing tornado - he was almost certain there was a sock hanging from the lampshade. "Okay, so I didn't know whether to go really dressy or if that's trying way too hard, and I kind of want to look cute but not _cutesy_, and you know, I want to look _good_ and I want her to think that, well, I look attractive, because that's kind of the point on dates, but I don't want to look, um, _too_ much like I want her to think I'm attractive and..." She ran a hand nervously through her loose hair, shaking her head. "Anyway. I don't know what to choose!"

There were at least six different outfits crammed on to her single bed, and Lysandre sighed a little as he peered at them. "It would help if I knew what you were doing for your date," he reminded her gently, and she let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, uh, right. There's a thing on at the art gallery, one of the champagne talks - this really famous photographer is giving a talk, that's what she actually invited me to in the first place. And then we're going out for dinner."

Lysandre hummed thoughtfully. "So nothing particularly physically active, and something in a reasonably classy environment," he confirmed. Turning to the bed, he scooped up an armful of clothing. "We will put these back, then. Some are too casual, some are overly formal, and some are too..." He hesitated briefly. "Ah, revealing."

Her face fell and she turned back to her closet, stuffing pieces inside. "Sorry," she said softly, "I guess I don't really know what kind of thing is appropriate..."

She was clearly disappointed with her own choices, and Lysandre sighed, dropping a hand on her shoulder. "You're new to this," he told her gently, "And remember, I'm much older, much more familiar with dating, and much more familiar with social niceties. It's to be expected that you don't know what's expected when you're only eighteen. I certainly didn't."

Reaching for another hanger, she glanced up at him curiously. "How old were you when you went on your first date?"

"Seventeen," he said calmly, "It was arranged by our parents, they moved in the same social circles. She was nice enough, but neither of us were particularly interested in each other."

Her lips pursed. "Okay, what about your first date with someone you actually liked?"

That garnered a chuckle, and he handed her another hanger. "That didn't happen until I was nineteen. It went a little more smoothly, but we still found we weren't particularly compatible - we barely knew each other. It helps to be friends first."

"Like me and Serena..." It was a thoughtful little murmur that he barely caught, but still prompted a smile from him. "Me and Serena have been friends for two years! So I guess that helps, right?"

"Mm." That was the last of the clothes he had decided against, and now they turned back to survey the remaining ones on the bed. "Actually, I had known Augustine for two years before we became involved, too."

"Ooh! Really?" Shauna had brightened considerably, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. "That's a really good sign, then, maybe we can end up like you guys!"

Shauna would be lucky if she did find someone like Augustine, and he smiled in fond memory. "Perhaps. We were also a little older when we first became involved - in our mid twenties. Still," he added hastily before her face could fall again, "There is no law saying that you must have a certain amount of life experience - or dating experience - before you find someone you find you wish to be with for the rest of your life. Ah, how about this?"

He held up a dress, surveying it critically - it was a soft rose pink, dotted with a subtle pattern of darker pink and green, and with some loose, feminine frilled trim at the neckline. On Shauna, it would hit her just above the knees - modest enough for a gallery talk, but alluring enough that he expected Serena would be staring at her legs all night.

"I thought that one was a bit too girly," Shauna said dubiously, shifting from foot to foot. "I haven't really worn it a lot. Every time I do, I look like a doll."

"Ah, but this is where you make good use of _contrasts_!" With an actual grin, he turned back to the closet, surveying its contents with the practised eye of a fashion connoisseur. "Here - this will work nicely. Go and try these on." And he withdrew a black leatherette jacket, cut at an angle at the waist and the sleeves soft enough to push up her arms.

She blinked once, then obediently took the dress and jacket and hurried into the bathroom to change.

With Shauna occupied, Lysandre hurried to work. From her jewellery collection, he found a floral piece like a black jewelled vine that would accompany the neckline of the dress quite nicely, a cuff made of braided black cord, small silver beads and studs wound into its depths, and a pair of dainty pink rose earrings that would have indeed been too much 'like a doll' had it not had the other pieces to contrast. To this collection, he found a pair of heels in dusty pink, low enough to remain classy, high enough to at least enable to her to look at Serena in the eye more easily - while Shauna did look more like her actual age now, she never really had reached the height of her other friends.

Setting these items aside, he started replacing the other pieces she had chosen before, humming under his breath all the while. It wasn't until he heard a soft, self-conscious cough that he turned, finding Shauna shifting awkwardly in the dress and jacket.

"Um, does this - look alright?" she asked hesitantly. "Just, I don't think I would have picked this out myself..."

With a thoughtful hum, he examined the effect. "I think that will do nicely," he finally said with a nod. "The dress flatters your legs and pink _is_ your signature colour. The jacket adds a slightly harder element so it's not so overwhelmingly doll-like. The overall effect is feminine, but with a bit of an edge to it."

She blinked, turning to her reflection in the mirror. "Oh. I wouldn't have really thought of it like that." She stared at herself, and Lysandre watched her curiously, watching the little smile starting to creep onto her lips. "I really like it!"

He offered her a smile back. "Good. How about we work on your hair and make-up next?"

"Sure thing!" Bouncing a little, she hurried to pull open a drawer with a modest collection of cosmetics. "Um, what colours should we use? And what do I do with my hair? I thought of putting it up, but it kept falling out of the tie..."

"You'll see," he murmured, selecting a few pieces. "Do you have hair spray? And large rollers?"

"Yeah!" Darting back and forth gathering supplies, she hurried out to the living room, setting them out on the table. "Better light out here. Also, it's super crowded in my room!"

Chuckling, he followed after her, gesturing to one of the chairs. "Indeed. Shall we begin?"

A meditative silence fell; Shauna was lost in thought and he was concentrating on brushing her hair, sweeping it to the side and smoothing it out. When he reached for the first roller, she made a questioning sound; he started wrapping it around the piece.

Focusing on the task at hand, he made an answering noise in acknowledgement. "I'm going to have it sweep to one side and have it in large, soft, loose curls. With some luck, Serena won't be able to stop touching it."

"Good," she said, grinning audibly and swinging one leg. "Hey, Lysandre?"

"Mm?"

"What was your first date with Professor Sycamore like?"

Probably much to Shauna's surprise, he chuckled. Quite aside from the fact that they had already had, well, several _encounters_ before ever actually going on a date, the memory was an... interesting one. "Well, it involved a fair few less nerves," he explained as he spritzed the first curl in hair spray and started on the next roller. "We both already knew that we wanted to be involved in each other's lives at that point - remember that we were in our twenties, we were not teenagers."

"Right, right," she said impatiently. "But, I mean - I guess it went super well, huh? What did you do during it? Did you like... hold hands or..." Lysandre could not see her face, but her shoulders slumped a little. "Did anyone get all... weird at you? Did anyone say nasty things or get violent or..."

"You're worried about people reacting negatively because you and Serena are both girls," he deduced softly, and he could feel a heavy lump in his chest even as he sprayed the next curl and reaching for another roller. "I can't tell you that no one will be homophobic. The world, unfortunately, is not that kind." Something in his expression twisted for a moment, the old anger and helplessness and resentment over the world they lived in rising again. Forcing out the words, he pressed on. "But things do get better. Things are getting better. Yes, we did encounter slurs and threats of violence, but remember also that that was twelve years ago. Things get better."

For a moment, his hands stilled in Shauna's hair. If he could tell himself that enough, he could start believing it. He had to, had to let himself accept that things took time to change, that a hopeful future was better than none. He had to believe that there would be a future for people like Shauna, for Serena, for all of them.

"Also," he continued as he finished off the last curler and sprayed the hair spray over it, "If anyone causes you trouble, there are plenty of cafes near the museum, as well as the hotel. Try heading somewhere with a lot of people, but quiet enough that others will hear if anyone else starts causing you trouble. And if you need to at any time, call me or Augustine. No matter what the hour is, we will come and get you and make sure you're safe."

It was probably a good thing that he had already finished with her hair and had yet to start on her make up, for this was the point where she twisted around in the chair, buried her face into his chest, and threw her arms around his middle in a fierce hug. Caught utterly by surprise, he set a hand on her shoulder, not entirely sure what else to do. "Thanks," she whispered, the word barely audible, muffled as it was against his coat. Drawing back, she offered him a quavery smile. "Thanks," she repeated, more conviction now in her voice. "I know the first time we met wasn't really, um, under the best circumstances -"

Here, Lysandre had to let out a strained chuckle. No, the whole attempting-to-destroy-the-world thing had been a somewhat awkward introduction.

"- But I'm really glad we're friends now. And - thanks. For promising to protect us and for helping me today and..." She shrugged self-consciously. "Thanks for everything."

He returned the smile, feeling a little self-conscious himself. "You're welcome. Here - while you're facing me, we'll do your make up."

"Okay," she smiled, letting her eyes fall shut. "So - tell me about your first date with Professor Sycamore?"

Slipping a black headband over her head to keep her hair away, he reached for the first item of make up. "Alright," he conceded, pausing thoughtfully as he worked out where to start. "Well, to begin with, the cab got caught in traffic - it's an inauspicious start, I suppose, to have to text your date and tell him you'll be twenty minutes late. We did make it - eventually - and then got caught in even more traffic on the way out. By the way we made it to the theatre, we not only had a cab fare that was twice as high as we originally thought, but we were about to miss the start of the play we were seeing."

Shauna's eyes had not just opened at this, they had widened, a vaguely appalled expression on her face. "Oh no, I didn't even _think_ about traffic - what if we're late to the talk? What if we miss our reservation afterwards? Or - or what if we get there but it's been cancelled and we went all that way for nothing and - "

Utterly bemused, Lysandre held up a hand to silence Shauna's rambling, and she shut her mouth with an audible click of teeth.

"Fortunately, we did make it in before the curtains rose - however, the theatre operated on a first come, first serve basis. We ended up crammed in a back corner, only able to sit together thanks to others moving over for us. As a result, we really did not see much of the play. In fact," he added with a frown, "I'm not even sure I can recall what it was."

Shauna could not offer any reply to this - Lysandre was brushing foundation over her face and had one thumb holding her jaw shut.

Still, the look she gave him spoke volumes. He had to resist the urge to chuckle. "It did have a dramatic ending, however - largely because the fire alarm went off, along with the sprinklers. It was early March, not the warmest time of the year to get completely drenched - it also isn't every first date that's interrupted by having to go home to get dry clothes."

"That's _horrible_."

"So was his fashion sense back then," Lysandre said in a perfect deadpan, paused, and mentally erased the 'back then'. "At any rate, it was a good thing we hadn't made dinner reservations, since we most definitely would have missed it. Still, it was unfortunate. It was an exceptionally busy night - there really weren't any places of class open. We ended up resorting to a cafe and filling up on coffee, sandwiches, and pastries."

She smiled ruefully, able to speak (if not see) now that he was attending to her eye make up. "That actually sounds kind of nice, though. You could get a whole bunch to try out, right?"

"Right," he echoed, "Which is what we did. Of course, this wasn't necessarily the best cafe and we didn't particularly _want_ to eat a great deal from there, but it sufficed for the primary task of food, which is to fill your stomach." He shook his head, forgetting that Shauna couldn't see the gesture. "Of course, we didn't particularly want to end it on a low note, so we decided to try one last activity."

"What was that?"

"Ice skating," he said grimly.

It was amazing how effective a look of despair could be even with one's eyes shut. "How did that go?" she sighed, almost in resignation.

He shook his head, reaching for the eye-liner. "I will put it one way," he told her as he carefully applied it, "It is probably extraordinarily unwise to give Augustine any method of transportation that is not a car or else his own feet. He ended up causing somewhat of a pile-up, and by the end of it, he had a bloody nose and I had a twisted ankle."

Shauna gave a heaving sigh, the pencil almost stabbing her in the eye as she moved. "I should have known," she muttered. "Then let me guess, a volcano nearby exploded and aliens invaded?"

Lysandre managed a wry laugh. "Not quite, although at that point, it wouldn't have surprised me. Although it did start raining as we walked - well, hobbled - back to the taxi, getting our second set of clothes wet. We parted ways at his home, and both acknowledged that it was a terrible night that neither of us wanted to remember. And that was our first date," he concluded, adjusting her headband more properly, fastening the necklace and tying the cuff around her wrist, and stepping back. "Go and put your earrings on and see what you think of the make up."

She blinked a little, reaching up to rub at her eye and then halting her hand mid-movement. "Oh - it's done."

"It is," he smiled, "And there's still ten minutes to spare."

A grin popped across her face, and she hurried back to her bedroom while Lysandre busied himself with cleaning off her make up and hair equipment. There was a faint shriek of delight from the from the other room and he paused, smiling, before carrying her things back in.

"Lysandre, I look fantastic!" she squealed, bouncing up and down again. "I won't hug you again because I don't want to wreck it but - wow, I look so good!"

Setting her cosmetics down, he offered her another smile. "Of course. You're already a beautiful girl - you don't need too much make up to enhance that."

She smiled crookedly. "You're nice," she offered, and the smile turned into a frown. "Well, sort of. How come you told me all those horrible things about your first date? I look good, but now I'm super nervous! Oh, Arceus, is there rain forecast for tonight?"

"Clear skies and a mild breeze. I told you for a reason, actually." Gesturing for her to follow him back out to the living room, he watched as she dashed around, shoving her wallet and Holo Caster and her Chesnaught's Poke Ball (one could never be too cautious) into the bag she had chosen. "I think you could say that mine and Augustine's first date was a disaster, non?"

"It sounded _awful_," she pouted at him, dropping her bag on the table and fidgeting compulsively with the cuff. "And now I'm thinking about all the way mine and Serena's date could be a disaster too and now I'm super nervous, you know!"

Lysandre inclined his head in acknowledgement. "I know. I'm sorry if I unnerved you. But there's a good reason I told you," he explained, "And that is the simple fact that you would have worried about things going wrong even without me telling you about it. Even with a date _that_ awful, Augustine and I have been together for twelve years now. Our relationship is built on commitment, affection, and love, not on how technically perfect our first date was meant to be. If the relationship between you and Serena is meant to be and if your bond is strong enough, then it doesn't matter how well or how badly this date goes. You have the rest of your life to get it right."

And then there was a knock on the door.

Still looking vaguely stunned at the little speech Lysandre had just delivered, Shauna's eyes widened even further, her mouth opening and closing helplessly. "I'll get it," he murmured, sparing Shauna any further shock and striding to the door.

Serena looked about as nervous as Shauna did, her longer hair pulled up in a twist, wearing a sparkly black and pink ensemble that he vaguely recognised as being from the Anistar City Boutique. "Your colours match," he observed, and Serena flushed a little.

"I - uh - I guess?" she offered, biting her lip. "Um - what are you doing here, Lysandre?"

"Helping Shauna with her look for the evening," he explained, stepping back. "Won't you come in? She's probably -" Panicking in the bathroom. "- Just finishing up getting ready."

"Oh. Um, right." Raising a hand to her hair, she fidgeted with a loose strand uncomfortably as she stepped inside, and Lysandre had to resist the urge to tuck it back in. When the click of heels on floorboards came from behind them, though, they both glanced back, Lysandre nodding in approval of the complete picture that Shauna made.

And... there it was. Serena's mouth had dropped open, her eyes wide in amazement, and Lysandre had to fight the urge to grin in triumph. The pay-off for all their effort was Serena rendered literally speechless at the sight of Shauna, a faint sound that could have been wanting escaping her lips.

"You look - amazing," Serena finally managed, and Shauna flushed pink, fighting off a grin.

"Thanks - it's all because of Lysandre's help, he helped me choose an outfit, did my hair - everything!" The grin dropped, becoming shyer, a little softer. "You look really good too."

"He helped you with all that?" Serena bit her lip, glancing between Shauna and Lysandre uncertainly. "Um - I don't think he needed to. You'd look beautiful in anything."

If Shauna got any more red, Lysandre observed distantly, she was going to spontaneously combust.

"I didn't do much - just gave her a few pointers." He shrugged fluidly, his words mostly true - Shauna had not necessarily needed style tips, just some reassurances. "I should head home - I hope you both have a wonderful time."

"We will!" Shauna almost squealed, hugging him one-armed around the waist (so as not to mess up her make up, most likely). "Thank you so much for everything!"

Serena grinned as well, reaching for Shauna's hand as she detached herself from him. "See you later," she promised, "Also, I totally want you as my stylist for date number two, okay?"

"Of course. Enjoy yourself!"

"Date number two?" Shauna repeated in an ecstatic whisper, and Lysandre badly hid a chuckle as he raised a hand in parting and started down the hall.

They would be alright.

* * *

The light was on when Lysandre finally arrived home, now well into the evening and with as many stars as Lumiose City's streetlights would allow already out. Inside was the distant sound of television but no other response as he closed the door behind him, and he slipped off his shoes and coat and padded silently into the living room.

Augustine was there after all, curled up and fast asleep on the sofa, the television blaring from across the room. He looked untroubled and peaceful in his slumber, chest rising and falling smoothly. Lysandre smiled, switched the television off, and reached for the blanket folded on the back of the arm chair to tuck around him.

For all his stealthiness, Augustine still stirred, blinking in disorientation for a moment before his gaze cleared. "Lys?" he yawned, "How was Shauna?"

"She'll be fine," he said reassuringly as he gave up on the blanket and settled down beside him, immediately finding himself with a still-half-asleep professor glued to his side. "She was rather worried about her date - I helped her choose an outfit and told her about our first date."

"The awful one with the fire alarm and the rain and the twisted ankle?" Augustine recalled somewhat sheepishly. "That must have gone down well."

Lysandre chuckled, turning to press a kiss into Augustine's curls. "She wasn't very impressed. Not until I explained that I had told her that story because it doesn't matter or not whether this date goes badly - it's not an indicator of the future."

"Mm. They're still kids." A smile drifted across Augustine's lips. "They have the rest of their lives to get it right."

"Exactly," he said, and punctuated it with a lingering kiss.

Augustine sighed a little as they drew apart, still smiling. "So! Shall we order pizza, watch a movie, and enjoy having an unspectacular but still extremely pleasant date at home?" he asked brightly. "I can't think of anything better right now."

Lysandre couldn't not return that bright a smile, honestly, not if his life depended on it. "I think that sounds wonderful," he murmured, and rose from his seat to start their 'date' with drinks.


End file.
